Thank you. He was a wonderful Dad, despite hating the Dead I played constantly though that only made me love them yet more. :p

I think I now have a diagnosis (from a well-known JBL expert):

That's indeed a factory original K120. Here's what might be the problem: ... The foam filter under the foilcal is rotted and lots of pieces have migrated into the gap causing the rub. It'll be a challenge to clean it out without invasive work. I'm sure this is probably the culprit. Either the foilcal needs to be removed and cleaning from the rear vent hole, or the dome needs to be removed to attempt to clean the goo out of the gap. No guarantees it can be cleaned successfully. The second ebay photo shows the foam filter is rotted.

I'm not going to return the speaker. I believe the most likely cause of the issue is not that the seller misrepresented the speaker but that the knocking around during the shipping process caused the dislodging and migration. I try to apply the Golden Rule to gear sales and purchases. I wouldn't want someone to tell me over 2 months after buying one of my speakers that he finally tried it and found a problem so I'm not going to do that to another. I'm focusing now on whether I should try to have it cleaned out or recone it.

“[P]ersonally I disagree with the general philosophy of ‘genre equals gear’ at anything beyond a cosmetic level. I think the right idea is to find the right amp for you, and then play whatever kind of music you like. The “Jerry Thing” was just Jerry. It wouldn’t have mattered what he used and he used a lot of stuff.” Steve Kimock (The Gear Page 04/08/18)

“[P]ersonally I disagree with the general philosophy of ‘genre equals gear’ at anything beyond a cosmetic level. I think the right idea is to find the right amp for you, and then play whatever kind of music you like. The “Jerry Thing” was just Jerry. It wouldn’t have mattered what he used and he used a lot of stuff.” Steve Kimock (The Gear Page 04/08/18)

+1. That's rough. I know it's something we all face, but my heart goes out to you.

My suggestion would be to get in touch with the seller and lay out what has happened and appeal to his better nature. It would be better for him to learn about it sooner than later and the worst that can happen is that he can say no, which means you are no worse off than you are already and then you don't have to think about it any more.

Good luck! You do have a great speaker on your hands and reconing it will certainly give you years of enjoyment. Heck, you could even see about getting a hemp cone for it at this point!

I took your advice zambiland. If nothing else, this should be an interesting experiment in testing human nature. I'll let you know if I get a response and what it is.

“[P]ersonally I disagree with the general philosophy of ‘genre equals gear’ at anything beyond a cosmetic level. I think the right idea is to find the right amp for you, and then play whatever kind of music you like. The “Jerry Thing” was just Jerry. It wouldn’t have mattered what he used and he used a lot of stuff.” Steve Kimock (The Gear Page 04/08/18)